All EDCA sites 'activated' for use in relief efforts amid monsoon rains

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines announced Tuesday, July 22, that it has begun using Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites as staging areas for disaster relief efforts amid the heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon (habagat) across the country.

In a statement, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said he has ordered unified commands and major services to use the EDCA sites to prepare for the distribution of rescue equipment and relief goods.

"Using these forward-operating hubs allows us to deliver aid faster and more efficiently to our fellow Filipinos, especially in hard-hit and remote areas," Brawner said. "This kind of rapid response can spell the difference between life and death."

EDCA is the 2014 agreement that grants the US access to select Philippine military installations where it can rotate its troops, build storage, and preposition military equipment.

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said all nine EDCA sites have been "activated" for use as relief centers.

"They can be used as command and control hubs, they can be used as repacking areas for relief goods or any other purpose that it may be deemed necessary," Padilla said at a press conference on Tuesday, July 22.

The military is also currently coordinating with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to align their relief efforts, the statement added.

There have been at least six reported fatalities from the combined effects of severe tropical storm Crising (international name: Wipha) and the enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Two of these are confirmed deaths while the other four are being verified.

More than 300,000 families (equivalent to 1.2 million individuals) across 17 regions have been affected by the weather disturbances, according to the council.

The NDRRMC defines "affected" individuals as those who have suffered injury, illness, displacement, or direct damage to their homes, livelihoods, and other assets due to a disaster.